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Posts tagged ‘westerns’

Stained Snow will be coming to your Kindle e-readers this Friday! So, there’s still time to pre-order your copy! So, here’s one more teaser for it before it’s out.

In the morning. When George returned, he would tell him he’d ride out in the morning.
He finished cleaning out the stall and leaned the pitchfork against the wall. It was a warm day, so the horses were out in the corral. He could leave the rest until after lunch. He made his way up to the house, not sure why he had this unsettled feeling in his stomach. He pushed it away. Nothing was going to happen. He would eat lunch then go back out to finish his chores. That was it.
Maggie already had his lunch on the table by the time he’d cleaned up in the trough outside and headed in. He sat down with a nod to her before bringing a bite of meat to his mouth. She moved around behind him. He felt every time she passed. Occasionally her hand even brushed along his back. His muscles were so tight, he was sure he frayed at the seams. His hand trembled as he scooped the last of his beans off the plate with his bread. She leaned over him to grab the plate.
Her breasts pressed against his back for a moment, and he snapped.
The plate clattered to the floor as he shot to his feet and turned to her. No fear showed in her eyes. Maybe she knew he wouldn’t hurt her. Her pulse fluttered in her throat, and her shoulders heaved as she took in quick breaths. Her eyes were bright with something.
He took a step toward her, his hand sliding up her side. “You’ve been tormenting me for days, Maggie.”
She gave a little shake of her head. “You’ve been avoiding me. I thought you hated me for what we did.”
He leaned his forehead against hers. “What we did was kiss, and I hated myself. I won’t lead you on, Maggie. I’ll be riding out soon.” He couldn’t do it. Couldn’t tell her it would be in the morning. He was the worst kind of coyote around, but he couldn’t do it. “I’ll try to come back when it’s finished.”
Her body stiffened, and he pulled back to look down at her. Her face paled, and her eyes clouded. “What is it?”
She glanced away from him. “I’ve been told those words before.”
The words were like a blow right to his gut. “There’s someone else.”
She shook her head. “Not for almost a year. That’s when he rode away and said he’d come back for me if he got a chance. He’s long gone by now.”
A tear formed, and he brushed it away with his thumb. “The only thing that will keep me away is my death. I mean it, Maggie.” He brought her face up so she could look at him again. “You’ve dug into me so deep. I have to finish this, but I don’t think I can stand to stay away from you.”
She lifted up on her toes and brushed her lips against the side of his mouth. His arms came around her, pulling her close. He changed the direction of the kiss, taking it deeper. Her hands caught against his chest, and it felt like a fire started there.
His mouth left her lips and brushed across her cheek. “Tell me to get back to work, Maggie. Tell me to go, or this isn’t going to end with a kiss.”
Her breasts pressed against him. “I don’t want you to go, Will.”

I’m back for a Word a Day post 2 days in a row. Woohoo! Today’s word is inspiration. It’s also Tuesday, when I usually share a little teaser from a MS I’m getting ready to publish. So, I’m going to attempt to combine those into one. So, first a little story.

One Saturday morning, when I was about twelve, I was watching TV with my stepdad. It was an old show on TNT called Hondo. It was a western, and I got caught up in it. Then, one of the times we were watching it, I saw it was based on a book by Louis L’Amour. So, next time I was in the school library(I was in 7th grade at the time), I started looking to see if they had any of his books. They did, in fact, have Hondo, which I read. Then, I came back and got more of his books to read. It didn’t take long to read through everything our school library had(and later the public library). So, I started buying them whenever I could find them.

We also watched pretty much ever western that was on at the times. All reruns on TNT, what was The Family Channel back then(High Chapperal, Big Valley, Bonanza), and TVLand(Gunsmoke, The Rifleman). And I branched out to reading more westerns. But, I’ve always come back to Louis L’Amour.

And that was some of my inspiration that led to me writing Stained Snow. It wasn’t the first western I wrote. That happened back in seventh grade, when I basically did a knock-off(though a lot shorter) of Lonesome Dove. But, I’ve had a love of westerns ever since then.

And now, for a little snippet of Stained Snow, which will be out sometime in March(I will set an official date soon).

It took William nearly two days to reach Rawlins. He made it to South Pass, the easiest way through the Sweetwater Mountains without going all the way around to where the North Platte River cut through. Nobody had seen Thomas in a week.
He went west from there, following the railroad tracks. Every town William stopped in, someone had seen Thomas. Not everyone wanted to talk to him. Some had good things to say about Thomas. Others stated he’d stolen something from them. Even a horse in one of the small towns along the way.
He’d been on the trail for nearly two weeks and had started to give up hope he’d ever find his brother. It seemed every town William came to, there was less time between them.
He pushed on.
He rode into the town of Latham after passing through the mountains. It wasn’t a large town, but the railroad towns had plenty of saloons and houses of pleasure to cater to the rougher elements. William had never been much of a drinker, but the saloon was the best place to listen for news. He wasn’t sure how long he would be able to keep up the pretense of drinking while listening for information, so he hoped it wouldn’t take long.
He stepped into the saloon and let his gaze scan the room before he headed over to the bar. In that quick glance, he had taken in who sat at each of the tables. William leaned against the bar and signaled the bartender.
When the other man approached he ordered a beer and put his coins on the bar top. Then, he turned to face the room while he waited for it. Looking out at the other patrons didn’t give him any more information. He didn’t know any of them. Didn’t know if any of them were friends with Thomas, or even friendly with him. He didn’t even know who would be the best to approach for information.
The bartender slid the beer across the bar to him. William caught it but held a hand out to stop the bartender from leaving. “I’m looking for someone,” he said.
“There’s lots of someones here. Why don’t you go pick one of them?”

I’m planning to start putting out my first western series late this year. If everything goes according to plan, I’ll be releasing one each month. Of course we all know how plans usually go. There’s only 3 books in the series, so it’s shorter and more self-contained than my others. Like my other series, these are connected by the characters and there isn’t an over-arching line between them. Different main characters, different problems.

Stained Snow:

Sometimes blood isn’t thick enough.

When everything is taken from him, William Jensen knows just who to blame. It’s finding him that’s the problem. When he’s wounded and taken in by a rancher and his daughter, he starts to see that there might be more to his life now than vengeance. But, when he’s faced with losing even that, can he face down the man who is willing to take everything until he has nothing left? Even if it means killing his own brother.

Stained by Ashes:

Adam Kindrick thinks his biggest trouble will be finding a way for his other family, his mother’s people, to finally accept him. Then, he meets Leah Kline, whose father despises him because of his heritage, and finds a burned down cabin within days. Now, he has to decide what’s more important: getting the girl or finding who is burning out homesteaders. Because, it becomes clear he won’t be able to have both.

Stained Blood:

Barrett Kline has been hiding out since his family’s disgrace, except for giving away his sister at her wedding. Until he sees a woman in apparent distress. But, there’s more to Deryn Glas than he first assumes. When he realizes there is trouble on her trail, he vows to protect her, even when that means marrying her. But, falling in love had never been in the plan.